The Road to Nationals
by china36
Summary: <html><head></head>After their spectacular win at Regionals, the New Directions are back, and ready to go. But what happens when two new students join? A little bit of Starkid can be found, of course!</html>
1. Chapter 1

A/N- Truthfully, I haven't written in third person in a REALLY long time. Nor have I written in the past tense in a long time either. So, I'm sorry if it sucks. And like usual, **I don't own Glee**

Chapter 1

Blaine

"And there you go! You're all registered. Welcome to William McKinley High School. Astounding, actually. Why would you want to come to a public school after Dalton?" The woman at the front desk, Nancy, asked.

"Different atmosphere," Blaine lied quickly. It wasn't that he was humiliated by the fact that his family couldn't afford Dalton anymore; he just didn't want her to know the real truth. Besides, why did it matter anyway?

Nancy handed him his schedule. "Well, here you go. Good luck!" She said happily as the phone rang. Blaine walked out of the office and looked around. People talked at their lockers, laughing and some kissing. He began down the hallway, hoping to find his first class, Spanish. He heard the teacher was nice, Mr. Schuester, and also ran the school Glee Club. Blaine knew for sure that they wouldn't think twice about not letting him join; after all, he was the soloist for the Warblers. The Warblers. Blaine hadn't thought about them in a while. He wondered how they were doing- who was singing the solos, what songs they were doing. Blaine knew for sure that they were doing well. They were doing just fine.

Finally, he found his class. And luckily, just in time. The bell rung as he walked through the classroom. Mr. Schuester sat at his desk, looking over some sheet music, shaking his head in disgust. Blaine walked over, fishing the new student pass out of his pocket. He knew that the class was watching him, interested in the new guy who, very obviously had good looks.

"Excuse me, Mr. Schuester. I'm Blaine Anderson, the new transfer student." Blaine said and Shuester looked up.

"Oh, welcome, Blaine. Just call me Mr. Shue. Everyone here does. You can take a seat at the desk over there," he said, pointing to an empty desk at the far right hand side of the classroom. Blaine nodded and walked over, hoping not to attract any attention. But he had. Another boy, Kurt Hummel, sat in awe at Blaine. His friend, Mercedes, poked him several times in the gut in order to attract his attention.

"Hopes on the new boy?" She asked, always supporting Kurt in every possible way.

"Yes."

"Do you think he's gay?"

"I don't see how he can't be. I mean, how many other teenagers in Ohio can dress like that and pull it off. Other than myself, of course. Genius, really. The leather messenger bag. It's just beautiful." Kurt mumbled to himself. Across the room, Blaine was doing the same. He marveled at Kurt, amazed that he could find someone with such a fashion sense as himself. He shook himself out of his reverie, and grabbed a book from off the shelves. Hopefully, the boy is in the glee club, he thought to himself.

The class passed quickly, allowing Blaine to talk to Mr. Shue. Finally, the student in front of him finished, and Blaine walked up.

"Excuse me, Mr. Shue? I was wondering if the glee club still needed more members?"

"Oh, yes, thanks, Blaine. Actually, we're meeting right now, so if you could just follow me," he said and gathered the sheet music up in a jumble of papers. Blaine followed him out of the classroom and down the hall to the choir room. They entered a room with several students. Blaine recognized one of the boys and the girl who were in his Spanish class. But none of the others looked familiar. Of course, he had only had one class, but still. He thought that maybe he would recognize someone from the hallway this morning.

"Listen up, guys," Shue began. Immediately, the room because silent. "We all know that we really need more people, especially if we want to compete in Nationals." A few people clapped, and others cheered. "So, I'd like you to give Blaine a warm introduction." They clapped for him, the boy from his Spanish class clapping the hardest, his eyes drilling deep into Blaine's own. Schue sat down, giving Blaine a nice wide open space to sing. He glanced at the piano, and thought for a quick minuet.

"I won't need any accompaniment." He said and walked over to the band at the other side of the room. He told them the same, and they relaxed. Blaine grabbed an acoustic guitar and slid the strap over his head and onto his shoulders. The familiar weight of the guitar comforted him as he pulled out a pick from his pocket. Quickly, he tried a few simple chords. Nice guitar, nylon strings. It won't work for the song, unfortunately, but it's a guitar, Blaine thought. He walked to the front of the room, determined.

"This song is called 'If You Only Knew', by Shinedown." Blaine placed his hands on the guitar, getting ready for the opening chord.

_"__If you only knew. I'm hanging by a thread, the web I spin for you. If you only knew. I'd sacrifice my beating heart before I lose you." _Kurt had to admit it. The new guy was good. _Really good._

_"I still hold onto the letters you returned. I swear I've lived and learned." _Damn, thought Rachel, he's cute. Cuter than Finn. Quinn and Finn would be so jealous. I have to get this guy.

_"It's 4:03, and I can't sleep. Without you next to me, I toss and turn like the sea. If I drown tonight, bring me back to life. Breathe your breath in me. The only thing that I still believe in is you.  
>If you only knew" <em>This guy could help us win Nationals, Mr. Schue thought.

_"If you only knew how many times I counted. All the words that went wrong. If you only knew how I refuse to let you go. Even when you're gone. I don't regret any days I spent. Nights we shared or letters that I sent." _Quinn stared at Blaine. How could such a wonderful sound come from someone she wasn't dating? He would be hers, no matter what.

_"It's 4:03, and I can't sleep. Without you next to me, I toss and turn like the sea. If I drown tonight, bring me back to life. Breathe your breath in me. The only thing that I still believe in is you.  
>If you only knew, if you will only knew." <em>By then, Blaine felt flawless. His pick strummed the guitar I a perfect, even pattern. Beautiful.

_"I still hold onto the letters you returned. You helped me live and learn. It's 4:03, and I can't sleep. Without you next to me, I toss and turn like the sea. If I drown tonight, bring me back to life.  
>Breathe your breath in me" <em>With a voice like that, Rachel thought again, he just may take my solos. That was not going to happen, she decided.

_"The only thing that I still believe in is you. Believe in is you, I still believe in you, oh. If you only knew."_ Blaine sang the final verse and took his fingers off the guitar. The room erupted in applause.

"Fantastic job, Blaine. Welcome to the New Directions." Mr. Schue said and walked back up to the center of the room.

"Wait a second," a girl from the back of the room said. She got up and walked to the front of the room, her hands on her hips. "Aren't you one of the guys from the Warblers? How do we know you're not coming to spy on us for Nationals?"

"Santana-" Mr. Schue began.

"Don't worry about it. Yeah, I was a Warbler, but I left. Besides, the Warblers lost. We- they didn't move onto Nationals," Blaine told her. He placed the guitar back on its stand. He sat down, right next to Kurt, to both of their pleasures.

"I'm Kurt, Kurt Hummel. I think you were in my first period Spanish class."

"I was. Blaine Anderson. Nice to meet you." Blaine said and smiled.

"Nice bag," Kurt said, holding up his own.

"Favorite Aimee Mann song on 3. 1, 2, 3-"

"Redvines." Both sat, staring at each other, stunned.

"Favorite color vines other than green?"

"Redvines!"

"Favorite way to say red wines in a German accent?"

"Redvines!"

"OH, MY GOD!" Kurt exclaimed, both hugging each other excitedly.

"Where have you been all my life?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- **Still, I don't own Glee. Nor anything else found in this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Aria

"Aria, we're here," Mr. Marks said to his daughter as they pulled into William McKinley High School's parking lot.

"Why couldn't I have gone to The Tundra School of Performing Arts? I made it in!" Aria protested angrily.

"Because, your mother and I already paid a massive amount of money for your choral studies at Girlchoir."

"Fine. But I obviously won't be getting a good education. Forget you." Aria said and got out of the car. She slammed the passenger door and grabbed her backpack from the backseat. Her father's black BMW sped out of the parking lot, leaving her all alone. Instinctively, she reached up to the pendant hanging around her neck- a treble clef, embedded with diamonds, which was a going away present from her old school, The American Girlchoir School. She loved it there. Each year, the Senior Choir went on tour, visiting practically every state in the United States. Fortunately, it was a boarding school, or she wouldn't have been able to go. After all, the school was in Pennington, New Jersey. Her family lived in Lima, Ohio. So, it was quite a way away, but Aria loved it.

She sighed and walked into the building. Immediately, the air was cold. No, not because of the air conditioning. She guessed that the overall atmosphere was cold and unwelcoming. Well, she was right. The first person she saw shoved her into the set of lockers beside her.

"What the hell?" She yelled after the football player. He stopped and turned on his heel.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me." She swallowed the massive lump in her throat, hoping her voice stayed even. Aria was not going to be bullied on the first day of school.

"Oh, really? Well, it sounded like you were questioning my authority over you."

"What authority? Last time I checked, just because you're older than I am, that doesn't mean you have authority over anyone! Asshole," she muttered, beginning to walk away. The boy grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"You just screwed up, big time, freshie. No one messes with Dave Karofsky. No one," he hissed. Aria rolled her eyes and walked away, ignoring the sharp jabs of pain rushing up her left shoulder. Damn idiot. She kept walking until she found her locker, number three hundred thirty six. She dumped her sweatshirt for later in the locker, then slammed it closed. Nothing was actually in it, obviously. She'd have to decorate it later, she decided. She checked her iPhone for the time. Nearly ten minuets until the first class began. She found her first class, honors English II, and then decided to walk around the school. See, because of her extremely advanced schedule, she was way past honors English I. Several minutes passed, then she found what she was sort of looking for. The choir room. Quickly, she peeked in. No one was in there. She slipped inside and raced over to the piano. She played a simple scale, instantly comforting her. Glancing around the room again, she started to play. And how the sound comforted her! She kept playing and playing, unsuspecting of a body entering the room. She finished playing and was startled by the sudden clapping. Aria jumped and whipped around to see Mr. Schue with a seriously impressed look on his face.

"That was spectacular." He said quietly, hands on his hips. "Where did you learn to play like that?"

"I can pick up any instrument and play it without any prior knowledge." She replied, remembering the good days back at American Girlchoir. "Just give me fifteen minutes alone with the instrument and I can figure out how to play it."

"Where did you learn that?"

"School. The American Girlchoir School. We were trained to be professional choral singers. But I can sing virtually any kind of music."

"That's amazing. We have a glee club here. I think you should try out. You have an amazing talent. "

"Thanks," she said, grabbing her backpack. She began to leave the room but stopped. "I'm Aria. Aria Marks. I can sing any voice part, but I'm best in Soprano I. I can also arrange and write some music. If you want a sample, just let me know. I'd be happy to show you something," she said, walking back into the room.

"Mr. Schuester. But everyone around here calls me Mr. Schue." He said and she smiled.

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

"See you later, Aria. In this room, next period."

"Great. Thanks," she said and left the room again, walking toward her first period class, feeling like she actually belonged.


End file.
